Publisher plans to correct errors in Virginia history textbook

Civil War facts, brown bear to be changed in 2011 edition

This illustration shows the page in the history textbook "Our Virginia:… (Daily Press )

October 25, 2010|By Dan Parsons, dparsons@dailypress.com | 247-7840

WILLIAMSBURG — Responding to national media attention sparked by factual inaccuracies, the publisher of a fourth-grade Virginia history textbook has announced it will begin printing revised editions early next year.

The new versions will correct a sentence that inaccurately states the combat role of Southern blacks in the Confederate military and replace a photo of an animal that is not native to Virginia, the publisher announced Monday.

"Our Virginia," published by Five Ponds Press, incorrectly claimed "thousands" of blacks "fought in the Confederate ranks, including two black battalions under the command of Stonewall Jackson."

That claim is not accepted by most scholars, who admit that many thousands of blacks labored – most as unpaid slaves – on behalf of the Confederacy, but few fought in combat.

The claim that Jackson commanded two battalions of black soldiers also is false, as he died in 1863, before arming black soldiers was made legal in the South, said John Quarstein, a Hampton City Historian.

"I have never seen any documentation that there were units comprised solely of African-American units at the Battle of Chancellorsville," Quarstein said. "That is highly improbable because the South did not approve the recruitment of slaves until 1864 and no units were mustered until 1865."

Jackson died shortly after being wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville in 1863.

Plans to excise the passage are already underway.

"We will be revising the book and expect to print the second edition early in 2011," Lou Scolnik, a Five Ponds Press spokesman, said in a statement. "The controversial sentence will be removed."

Along with the offending passage, a photo of a "questionable bear" on a page with information on the Blue Ridge Mountains will be replaced. The photo and caption in question were found to be of a brown bear, instead of a black bear, which is native to Virginia.

In the meantime, Five Ponds is offering blank white stickers to cover the inaccurate sentence.

"We have the records of the number of books sent to each location and the correct number of stickers will be produced within two to three weeks and shipped immediately after," Scolnik said. "We welcome any and all suggestions for other improvements."

The company will not replace the books, which are being used in elementary schools in Williamsburg, James City County and Newport News among other school division in the state, Scolnik said. School systems that order the book before the new edition is available will have the option of waiting or purchasing the original version with a sticker covering the offending passage. Newport News on Monday ordered 10 more books, requesting the original version with the stickers instead of waiting for the new edition, Scolnik said.

No quick fix has been offered for the bear photo.

The publisher also is encouraging teachers to use the book's error as an opportunity to teach students about historical research and is revising the Teacher's Edition page related to the Civil War chapter to reflect this.

For their part, local school divisions are already preparing to handle questions and concerns about the passage.

"Our teachers will also use the passage in question as a vehicle to teach information literacy," Michelle Price, a Newport News Public Schools spokeswoman, said in a statement. "For example, how to discern quality research and facts, and to stress that not everything in print is accurate."